Waves of emotion washed over Kings general manager Dean Lombardi as he watched defenseman Alec Martinez’s shot hit the back of the net in sudden-death overtime Sunday night in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals in Chicago.

Lombardi said he thought of the players and their remarkable commitment to playing a kids’ game the right way, of coach Darryl Sutter and his staff and their rock-solid leadership, and of a renewed sense that the once lackluster franchise had taken another stride toward sustained excellence.

The Kings’ 5-4 victory over the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks vaulted them into their second Stanley Cup Final in three seasons. The Kings will face the New York Rangers, the champions of the Eastern Conference. Game 1 is Wednesday at Staples Center.

Lombardi spent nearly 40 minutes with reporters on a conference call Monday, speaking about the Kings’ third consecutive Game 7 victory on the road, about the challenges the team has faced so far in the playoffs and what lies ahead in the Stanley Cup Final.

“We’ve met so many challenges and that series was a different challenge than the others in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s the first time up against the Stanley Cup champions. You sit back and you’re just really happy for your players. You know how much they’ve put into it and how much they care.”

Lombardi credited Sutter’s influence, labeling him a players’ coach.

“One of the easiest hires I’ve ever made,” Lombardi said of replacing Terry Murray with Sutter on Dec. 20, 2011. “I think it gets lost in his outward demeanor or whatever the perception is, but he’s a players’ coach. Does it come out in the press conferences? Probably not.”

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With the players and the coaching staff in lockstep and a third consecutive deep playoff run unfolding, Lombardi said it was an affirmation that the club was doing things the right way, no easy task in an era of quick-fixes and roster shuffling because of salary-cap concerns.

The Kings won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship in 2012, followed it with a loss to the eventual champion Blackhawks in ‘13 and have reached the Final again this spring. It’s a rare feat, what with the last repeat champion dating to the 1997 and ‘98 Detroit Red Wings.

“You think back five or six years ago in the process, and part of why you do things this way is being able to sustain it when quick fixes are in vogue and you have to deal with cap maintenance,” Lombardi said. “You see other organizations that have been able to do it, and Chicago is a great example. … You saw an affirmation of sustainability in the other jerseys (Sunday) night.

“They’re not going away. They’re on the right track.”

The challenge isn’t simply to win once, it’s to keep winning.

“If you let up one second, it could easily break itself,” Lombardi said.

Pause.

“It comes down to these players,” Lombardi added. “You hear about the coaches and our development people motivating the players. … Quite frankly, they’re motivating us. If they’re going to work that hard, then so are we. It’s a two-way street.”

Lombardi then cited the examples of Jeff Carter asking the then newly-acquired Marian Gaborik to stay with him in his home rather than in a hotel and Mike Richards inviting Gaborik to breakfast immediately after he joined the team in Winnipeg after a trade from Columbus on March 5.

“His acclimation is such a big part of (the team’s playoff success),” Lombardi said of Gaborik, whose tying goal in the third period of Game 7 was his NHL-leading 12th of the playoffs after he scored only 11 goals in 41 games during the regular season.

“It sounds simple, but it isn’t,” Lombardi also said. “The hallmark of this group is that it cares about the right things and they care about each other. They share certain traits. They’re not choir boys, usually, but they have the wherewithal to be great teammates. It comes down to caring.”